Audet - The Everything Cookies and Brownies Cookbook

THE
EVERYTHING
COOKIES & BROWNIES
COOKBOOK Dear Reader, Is there anyone who doesnt love an oozing, chocolate chip cookie still warm from the oven? I know my family does! Many of our best memories seem to center around the aroma of freshly baked cookies or the first bite of a childhood favorite. Sometimes just the name of a certain type of cookie can take you back to your childhood. Do you remember cookies like Whoopie Pies, BrownEyed Susans, or Gingersnaps? They seemed to just magically appear in Moms old cookie jar. Whether you are planning to make sweet memories with your children, need something wonderful for a bake sale, or are just looking for an after-school snack I am sure that you will find many recipes your family and friends will love. Special recipes for tea parties, allergy-free baking, and holidays are included as well. Welcome to the EVERYTHING Series! These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten. Welcome to the EVERYTHING Series! These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too. We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything ! Answers to common questions Important snippets of information Urgent warnings Quick handy tips
PUBLISHER Karen Cooper DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND INNOVATION Paula Munier MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Katrina Schroeder DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Brett Palana-Shanahan EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Hillary Thompson EVERYTHING SERIES COVER DESIGNER Erin Alexander LAYOUT DESIGNERS Colleen Cunningham, Elisabeth Lariviere, Ashley Vierra, Denise Wallace Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com THE
EVERYTHING
COOKIES &
BROWNIES
COOKBOOK Marye Audet
Copyright 2009 by F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews. An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, a division of F+W Media, Inc.
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com ISBN 10: 1-60550-125-5
ISBN 13: 978-1-60550-125-3
eISBN: 978-1-60550-703-3 Printed in the United States of America. J I H G F E D C B A Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought. From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks.

Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters. This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963. Contents Acknowledgments Many thanks go to my husband Marc, and my children, son-in-law, and grandchildren. They have been willing taste testers for years. They have cheerfully eaten an uncountable number of cookies, taken on extra household chores, and handled telephone calls to make this book possible. Thanks as well to my spiritual mom, JoAn Summers, who has consistently encouraged me to excellence in all things.

Thanks to Mary Trombley for the best sugar cookie recipe, as well as the best friendship, in the universe. Finally, I want to give many thanks to the Daring Bakers and all the readers of Baking Delights. You guys are awesome! Introduction THE EARLIEST RECORD OF cookie-type treats were small cakes that were made in seventh-century Persia. These small cakes spread to Europe during the Crusades, and by the fourteenth century cookies were well known in Italy and France, and their popularity had begun to spread to the rest of Europe. In the 1600s immigrants brought cookies to America. The word cookie actually came from koekje, the Dutch word for small cake.

Cookies were saved for holidays and special occasions because it was difficult and expensive to get the ingredients to make them. There werent many varieties of cookies, but many of them are still popular today: Gingerbread Lebkuchen Jumbles Macaroons Before vanilla was commonly available, cookies were flavored with rose water. The leavener that was most often used was a type of ammonia made from the antlers of a deer. While butter was used at times, it was more likely to be lard that provided the fat in the cookies. Lard was the more readily available of the two at this time. In the late 1800s, technology was creating new ways of doing things.

Sugar and certain spices were easier to get and women had a bit more leisure time. With the ability to more accurately regulate the temperature of their ovens, bakers were able to create different textures, shapes, and varieties of cookies. Bar cookies became popular among busy farm women in the early twentieth century as a way to make the family a treat quickly. During the depression, no-bake cookies allowed families to satisfy a sweet tooth with readily available dried fruits and nuts. The popularity of these cookies increased during the 1940s as rationing limited the availability of ingredients like sugar and chocolate. Creating Memories and Building Relationships The first baking that most people do is often some sort of cookie.

Making a habit of baking cookies with your children is an excellent way to create memories and build relationships. Children as young as two or three enjoy helping by mixing ingredients, arranging the cooled cookies on a plate, or even using a cookie cutter to cut the dough. By age six, children love to decorate cookies with colored sugar, sprinkles, and frosting; they are able to use their creativity and create unique cookies. They can learn to measure the ingredients and help to mix the dough. Your children will have fun while building self-esteem and even increasing their math skills. Dont wait for a rainy day to make some cookies.